Psalms of Ascent, Going to Jerusalem

During the first week, in our new book Advent Journeys, we walk with Zechariah the priest.  Zechariah was the husband of Elizabeth and the father of John the Baptist as recorded in Luke 1 of the New Testament.  In the introduction we learn Zechariah was a priest of the order of Abijah and he and his wife were without children.

As I wrote the chapter on Zechariah, the first thing I noted was that he was of the order of Abijah.  Abijah is one of twenty-four orders of the Levitical priesthood of Israel.  These divisions of priests first organized by King David are called Mishmarot & Ma'amadot.  In the times of Jesus each division of priests would serve five weeks per year (three weeks of harvest festivals where all Priests were to serve and two other weeks served in a rotation of divisions). {more on this tomorrow}

We are told that Zechariah and Elizabeth are advanced in age and can not have children.  This bears similarity to the stories of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Rachel, and Elkanah and Hannah.  According to the Torah Zechariah was advanced in age, but he was still serving in the Temple.  This means he must have been about fifty years of age (Numbers 8:25).  And as all of the other aged parents, Zechariah was a man who was faithful to God.

Because Zechariah was faithful to God, it can be read between the lines that he enjoyed his week of service in the Temple.  I tried to capture this joy as I wrote the first week of journals for Zechariah in the book Advent Journeys.  On his way to the Temple for his work duty Zechariah would have recited (or sung) the Psalms of Ascent: Psalms 120-134.  These Psalms, as I read them, captured a sense of things which impacted the life of Zechariah.  I placed one or two Psalms of Ascent as a scripture reading each day during the first week of Advent. The journal of Zechariah will often reflect something in these Psalms.

In our twenty-first century world I hope we, as believers, can reflect the joy Zechariah felt as he approached the Temple.  I hope this joy is evident as we attend worship service each week, and also in our daily lives as a reflection of our love for the Lord.

Advent: It doesn’t just happen!

In our high speed world you can have anything almost instantly. We would like the easy road to be best; but it isn’t always.  The best things in life take a little preparation.

Take Christmas for instance.  We all want to give the best gifts, which until the age of cyber shopping required multiple trips to the stores, and a never ending search for the “perfect” gift.  Now we can sit at home and shop (Some places would say in three easy clicks); but it is not that easy.  We still have to find the “perfect” gift, and to satisfy ourselves we look for the “best” price.  The experience requires visiting multiple sites in order for the gift to match the likes of each person for whom we are shopping.

We would like to have the best decorated home on the block in just three easy steps.  But anyone who has decorated their home will tell you even the simplest design requires more than three steps.  To place pre-strung icicles on the eaves of a one story home takes at least six steps on the ladder … in multiple locations!

Ask anyone, simple is a lot harder than it looks.

We all desire the perfect Christmas filled with closeness to Christ and filled with Christian love.  But the Christmas experience we really desire does not just happen.  A spirit filled Christmas requires preparation.

For my children I wrote an Advent guide.  Then I placed each activity on an Advent Calendar to make sure it got done.  Over time I produced pamphlets to share with others.  (This year my daughter and I printed a book.)  As we diligently followed through on our plans for each day, when Christmas Day arrived we found it was more than the presents: Christmas was Christ. it was more than just a day: December 25th became the high point of a season.  Our preparation made a great difference.

And not only did the preparation make a great difference each year … now that my children have grown and I hear them talk about their Christmas this year: the effort and preparation I put into each year as they were growing up paid dividends.  For they carry with them the memories and the desire to keep the real Christmas alive for themselves, and share with others.

What will your Christmas look like?  Rather than just letting Christmas “happen,”  I would recommend a plan.  And one plan (if you want it as simple as it could be) I would recommend is to buy our book Advent Journeys and use it for personal and dinner table devotions this year.